Wednesday, 26 June 2013

The simplest of projects

Me Made May 2013 made me realize a few things:

1. I need more knits because that's what I cheated with on weekends
2. I need more basic bottoms, especially solids to match my print tops
3. I need more fitted pieces because I've lost some inches in my hips and waist, and some things I made in 2010-2012 are too big.

Enter The Easiest Project of The Year: a pull-on ponte skirt. This was leftover from a long ago project, back before I knew how to estimate yardage requirements and just bought 3m of anything I liked. I'm sure you've been there too! I thank my ignorant past self for leaving me with lots of 1m pieces with which to experiment.

Here are a few headless photos courtesy of my 4 year old daughter, taken after a long day in the lab, so I'm looking a bit wrinkled and have managed to tear a hole in my tights. Classy.

I was going to put together a few illustrations on how I did this, but it was so easy that I can just explain it. First, take these measurements:

Divide the waist and hip measurements by 4. Don't add any seam allowance to the sides because you want zero or perhaps slightly negative ease. Add 5cm to the top and bottom for turning hems. Draw a shape like this on the fold of your ponte:

(You should probably smooth out that hip angle there. Unless you are shaped like that. No judgement.)

Serge up the sides so you have a tapered tube. Fold over the top and bottom hems and stitch with a stretch or cover stitch. Wear. Look awesome. Make a few more from your leftovers. Look awesomer.

Your skirt looks great! It's great when something simple ends up being so awesome! I have recently been thinking of adding some ponte pieces to my wardrobe. I recently made a dress from some grey wool knit, and it put me searching for the perfect ponte for a few more pieces!

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About Me

During the day, I am a mild mannered scientist. During the evenings and weekends, I am an exhausted mom. During my free time, I am teaching myself to sew. In other words, my house is a mess and we eat a lot of pasta.
Contact me at vicki_muise [at] yahoo [dot] ca if there's something too exciting / embarrassing / private to post as a comment.